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Monday, 23 June 2014

Day 303 - Lake Bratan

Sometimes the way to the destination is so nice that you forget about the actual destination and you feel like going on forever after passing your destination.

After going to Mt. Batur yesterday, it made sense to head to lake Bratan and the Ulun Danu temple today.

The way didn't start that exciting, with a lot of traffic at first but as soon as I turned off to a quieter road it all improved and while the road surface got worse, the driving became more fun and the views improved

While the Ulun Danu temple is nice and the location is great, it's the way really that make the journey worthwhile and here you want to come by motorbike and not packed in a bus.

I enjoyed the driving so much that I decided to continue on to lake Buyan and lake Tamblingan where despite the fog I still continued on before realising how far I got and how late in the day it already was.

This was certainly the day out I needed around Bali, away from the main touristy areas, driving through small villages and past great views, just enjoying it.

Towards the evening the clouds moved in and I even got a bit wet on my way back but it was all worth it for a great day out just me and the bike enjoying the views and great scenery here.

Sure, I have seen similar scenery in other countries around Asia but a nice view remains a nice view no matter if you've seen something similar in another country.

The flags are indeed fore the world cup or maybe just to celebrate how touristy the island really is. ;)

The different languages are a challenge at times but people speak enough English in most places and it is easier in countries where they use the same alphabet so I can at least read.One other very useful and indispensable tool is Google Translate on my phone with the offline language packs, nobody should travel without.And as a last resort, just smiling and pointing at things generally works, too. :)

The bigger challenge is at times the different currencies, conversion rates, figuring out the value of tuings and how much food and drinks should cost if you don't want to overpay.